Düsseldorf, Germany- Interkama 2001, the 15th International Trade Fair for Solutions for Automation in Production and Business Processes, Sept. 24-28, attracted 42,000 attendees from 66 nations to visit 618 exhibitors from 32 countries.

Despite its recent switch to a biennial schedule, Interkama's international scope remains unchanged. A third of the exhibitors and visitors came from outside of Germany. Most visitors represented European countries, but Asian attendees accounted for 14% while African nations' total rose to 6%.

Visitor participation from the U.S. was down due to the recent terrorist attacks. However, exhibitor participation remained stable. Significantly, the U.S. was the leading foreign exhibitor country, with all 37 registered firms present at the show, according to organizers.

Supporting the exhibits was a Forum program, 'Innovation Marketplace,' which consisted of lectures, panel discussions, and workshops on topics relevant to the automation industry. The free forum drew some 2,300 participants during its five-day run.

The 16th edition of Interkama fair is scheduled for Oct. 27-31, 2003, at the Düsseldorf Fairgrounds. For information, visit Messe Düsseldorf North America at www.mdna.com.

Innovations, solutions and news highlighting Interkama 2001 included:

• Several products using the new Field Device Tool (FDT) and Device Type Manager (DTM) specifications, a new Profibus standard. FDT/DTM is the latest stage of evolution of the GSD, and later EDD (Electronic Device Description) files, that are used to present information about a specific device to Profibus systems.
• Fieldbus Foundation (FF, Austin, Tex.) released its new Flexible Function Blocks (FFBs). Designed for complex batch, discrete and hybrid control applications, two types of FFBs are available: pre-configured FFBs and fully configurable FFBs. The foundation's exhibit also included three manufacturers demonstrating devices that link H1 networks to High Speed Ethernet: ABB (FIO-100), Smar (DFI), and Softing (FF Linking Device).
• Wago showed its first intrinsically safe bus modules for its System 750 that connect directly with instruments located in zones 0 and 1. The modules, developed in co-operation with Bartec, make it unnecessary to use external Zener barriers to limit the energy going into the hazardous zones.
• Pepperl+Fuchs announced its FieldLinks barrier for Profibus PA and FOUNDATION fieldbus systems. P+F's Jürgen George says his company's device features galvanic isolation, so that the internal circuits do not need potential equalization.
• ABB and MTL announced a partnership on ABB's S900 remote I/O System, which will involve MTL reselling its own version of the S900, called the MTL8000 1/1, and complements the existing MTL8000 2/2 and 2/1 Process I/O.
• Krohne rounded out its Altosonic ultrasonic flowmeter line with a new three-beam version designed for increased accuracy in turbulent and non-homogenous flow applications. This instrument is aimed at applications where PD, turbine flowmeters have been used in the past.
• Endress+Hauser showed its PROline Prosonic Flow clamp-on meter, which stresses ease of operation. Users input variables pertaining to pipe diameter and thickness, as well as general flow conditions, and the meter tells where and how to install it on the pipe.